For over 25 years, astronauts have lived and worked aboard the ISS. Celebrate this incredible achievement and learn what daily life is like 400 km above Earth!
1Building a Home in Space
The ISS is the largest structure ever built in space. Construction began in 1998 and took over a decade, with 15 countries working together. The station is as big as a football field and weighs over 400,000 kg. It orbits Earth every 90 minutes, meaning astronauts see 16 sunrises and sunsets every day!
- Size: 109 meters long, 73 meters wide (as big as a football field)
- Weight: Over 420,000 kg
- Orbit: 400 km above Earth, circling every 90 minutes
- 15 partner nations contributed modules and equipment
- Continuously occupied since November 2, 2000
2Daily Life on the ISS
Astronauts on the ISS follow a strict schedule: 8.5 hours of work, 2 hours of exercise, and 8.5 hours of sleep. They eat specially prepared meals, sleep in tiny pods strapped to the wall, and exercise on treadmills and bikes to keep their muscles strong in microgravity. Even simple tasks like brushing teeth become adventures in zero-g!
Try eating a meal while lying on your back — that is a tiny taste of what eating in microgravity feels like! Astronauts have to chase floating food around the station.
3Groundbreaking Science in Microgravity
The ISS is a world-class laboratory where scientists conduct experiments impossible on Earth. Research in microgravity has led to advances in medicine, materials science, and agriculture. Astronauts have grown lettuce in space, studied how fire behaves without gravity, and even created new types of protein crystals for drug development.
- Over 3,000 scientific experiments conducted
- Medical research: Studying bone loss, muscle atrophy, and vision changes
- Growing food: Lettuce, radishes, and chili peppers grown in space
- Materials science: Creating better fiber optics and alloys
- Earth observation: Monitoring climate change and natural disasters
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4The Future of Space Stations
The ISS is expected to operate until 2030 before being safely deorbited. But the era of space stations is far from over! NASA is supporting commercial space stations from companies like Axiom Space and Orbital Reef. China has its own Tiangong station, and India is planning one too. The next generation of stations will be even more advanced.
You can see the ISS from your backyard! Visit spotthestation.nasa.gov to find out when it will fly over your location. It looks like a bright, fast-moving star crossing the sky.